Near the end of January, I remembered I wrote a post like this in Jan 2024 for all the 2023 books I read but didn’t review. It seems like a good idea, so even though it’s taken me a minute to finally pull it together, I’m knocking one out another one for 2024.

This is a low stakes post – a simple list of the books I read but didn’t review for assorted reasons. If I had some quick thoughts on a book while I wrote this post, then I noted those thoughts down. But all I really want to say is “I read this, and here’s how good I think it was”. You can find my rating scale here. (TL;DR ★★★ and up is a book I would recommend to at least someone, if not everyone.) I do have one more post scheduled this month with a couple of 2024 reviews, but this post essentially clears out my 2024 reading so I can focus on 2025 reads and reviews.

Middle Grade

1. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu – ★★½
   • I’d been in love with that cover for years before I finally picked this one up… oh well.
2. The Curse of Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling – ★★★
   • A Canadian middle grade debut with a creative premise though I found it slow going for the most part.
3. Alice Atherton’s Grand Tour by Lesley M.M. Blum – ★★★
   • Do we still call books “chapter books”? That’s what I would have called this when I was eight. An extremely light work of historical fiction. There’s no conflict whatsoever. It seems to have been written to introduce children to artists of 1920s Europe.
4. The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage by David A. Robertson – ★★★★
   • IMHO, his best middle grade to date
5. Asking for a Friend by Ronnie Riley – ★★★
   • When I try to think about this book, my mind skips to Riley’s debut Jude Saves the World. I think that is the stronger of these two books.

Adult

1. Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinkser – ★★★★ 
2. Even Though I Knew the End by CL Polk – ★★★½
   • I recall virtually nothing about this book now, except it made for pleasant reading one afternoon on the couch. I gave it four stars on Goodreads which seems a bit high?? My instinct was to give it three here, so I shall split the difference.
3. What You are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama – ★★½
   • I am over these type of stories, if I was ever truly into them to begin with.
4. Victory of Eagles (Temeraire #5) by Naomi Novik – ★★★
   • I read Temeraire in late 2023 and early 2024. Now my thirst has been quenched. Who knows if/when I will finish the series.
5. Sleeping Giants by Rene Denfeld – ★★★★
   • Highly recommended if you like literary mysteries!
6. The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohammed – ★★½
7. A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter – ★★★½
8. Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes – ★★
   • You’d think this would be the perfect book for me (Arctic! exploration! horror!) but unfortunately it was a slog to get through. Vibes were good tho, lots of dark cold gloominess.
9. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson – ★★★★½
10. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden – ★★★★★
11. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher – ★★★★★
    • Possibly my favourite Kingfisher read to date, though a reread of Nettle & Bone might challenge that notion.
12. A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland – ★★★★★
13. The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez – ★★★★★
14. Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics by Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick – ★★★★★
    • Super educational read on why many American ‘liberals’ don’t support Palestine. I also learnt a lot about the historical context of the US-Palestine relationship.

What’s a book you didn’t review in 2024 but still sticks in your mind?